The Canisius baseball team is making its first appearnace in the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Griffins will be the No. 4 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional.

Canisius opens play against No. 1 overall seed North Carolina on Friday. Sun Belt Conference champion Florida Atlantic is the No. 2 seed while Towson is the No. 3 seed and is Colonial Athletic Association champion.

Canisius enters the four-team, double elimination tournament with a record of 42-15. The Griffs broke the program and conference records with the 42 victories in a season.

Canisius enters the NCAA Tournament with a .737 winning percentage, which ranks 15th in the country

NOTING THE GRIFFS

Canisius is one of five teams making its NCAA Tournament debut.

Since starting the season 4-4, Canisius is 38-11 (.775) in its last 49 games.

Canisius is 25-9 in road games. The Griffs are second in the country with the 25 road wins, trailing only Cal-State Fullerton.

It is the fourth time in conference history that a MAAC team has won 39 or more games, with Canisius having three of those teams (2008, 2009 and 2013).

Canisius set a program record with an 11-game winning streak, ranging from April 10 to April 27. The Griffs saw that winning streak come to an end in an 11-6 loss to Marist in 10 innings on April 28.

Canisius has had four winning streaks of five games or longer this season. The Griffs have had 15 winning streaks of five or more games since 2008, the highest total in the conference.

Three Canisius pitchers combined to throw the program’s first nine-inning no-hitter at the Division I level in an 8-0 win at Iona on March 29.

Coach Mike McRae won his 300th career game in a 16-8 win over Ohio University on March 16. McRae, the only Canadian head coach in Division I baseball, coached in 500th career game with the Golden Griffins in the regular-season finale against Fairfield.

The 34-man roster includes 13 Canadians (the most in Division I) and 10 players from Western New York.

The three members of the assistant coaching staff are also from Western New York, including Matt Mazurek and Andrew Russo who played for McRae at Canisius.

MAAC CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP

The Canisius baseball team won the first MAAC Championship in program history in dramatic fashion, defeating Siena College 12-11 on May 26, ARM & HAMMER Park in Trenton, N.J.

Canisius led 10-3 after six innings but Siena rallied to tie the game at 11-11. The Golden Griffins mounted a two-out rally by loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning. Junior Jose Torralba was hit on the shoulder with a pitch to force home the winning run and give Canisius the walk-off win.

Canisius made its seventh straight appearance in the MAAC Championship and played in the championship round for the fourth time in five years.

Canisius won for the 11th time this season in its last at-bat and for the fourth time in 2013 in walk-off fashion.

No. 3 seed Canisius opened play in the MAAC Championship with a 2-1 first-round victory over No. 2 seed Marist on May 23. Junior Garrett Cortright threw a one-hitter, allowing one unearned run, walking none and striking out seven in his fifth complete game of the season.

The Golden Griffins then defeated No. 1 seed Rider University 18-7 in the winners’ bracket game. Canisius and the host school were tied at 5-5 after four innings when the game was suspended on May 24. The teams returned the next afternoon at the same spot in the game, with Canisius breaking the game open with an eight-run, top of the sixth inning.

SERIES HISTORY VS. REGIONAL OPPONENTS

Canisius and North Carolina have met one time previously in baseball. The Tar Heels defeated Canisius 10-5 in the 1958 season.

Canisius and No. 2 seed Florida Atlantic have never met.

Canisius and No. 3 seed Towson have met twice, with the Tigers winning both of those prior matchups. Towson defeated Canisius 7-0 and 11-5 on March 8, 2004.